Winter lectures: Whales, terns, otters and more

Sunday

Jan 1, 2017 at 8:04 AM

Each winter in January and February, Harwich Conservation Trust offers a series of educational presentations on a range of environmental topics. All are held on selected Saturdays at the Harwich Community Center, 100 Oak St., at 2 p.m., and all request a donation of $5 per person.

Here’s the 2017 line-up:

Jan. 7, Terns of Cape Cod. Presentation by Peter Trull, naturalist, author and Lighthouse Charter School science teacher. Take a photo-journey with Trull as he explores the behavior and biology of the Cape’s four tern species: roseate, arctic, common and least. Terns migrate long distances to reach Cape Cod. They are plunge divers, hovering above the ocean’s surface before plunging beak first into the water to snatch silversides, sand eels, and even squid and shrimp. Many images in this program have never been seen before. This wildlife adventure will provide an opportunity for questions and discussion about infrequently seen behaviors and life histories of these graceful seabirds.

Jan. 14, 55 Years and Counting for a Cape Cod Treasure. Presentation by Bill Burke, park historian, Cape Cod National Seashore. In the 1950s, Cape Codders were split over the proposal to carve a National Seashore out of the six towns of the Outer Cape. Some feared the “clutches of big government” while others welcomed preservation of wild lands. Explore the Seashore's innovative "Cape Cod Model" that created a citizen advisory commission, patched together over 1,000 parcels of land, limited eminent domain, and emphasized preservation of both land and cultural heritage. Learn how the Seashore greets millions of visitors a year, serves as a center for science and learning, and still tries to be a refuge from everyday life.

Jan. 28, Whale Disentanglement: First Responders Save Lives. Presentation by the Whale Disentanglement Division of the Center for Coastal Studies. When a whale is reported entangled, First Responders quickly get to the site, monitor, and standby the animal until the primary rescue team arrives or if possible, free the animal. However, if the weather is not conducive to a disentanglement or the disentanglement is a difficult one, then the First Responders may attach a satellite/ VHF tag beacon to the entangled gear. This allows the first response team to track the animal until the conditions change. Learn about the risks and rewards of whale disentanglement on the high seas.

Feb. 4, Tracking Snowy Owls at Boston’s Logan Airport: Wildlife Research Takes Flight. Presentation by Norman Smith, director, Massachusetts Audubon Blue Hills Sanctuary. Since 1981, Smith has spent countless days and nights, in every imaginable weather condition observing, capturing, banding, and color marking snowy owls at Logan International Airport. Find out what has been learned to date, what questions remain, and how this project also developed to include research on saw-whet owls. Smith has worked for the Massachusetts Audubon Society since 1974 and mainly researched birds of prey, successfully fostering over 1,000 orphaned hawk and owl chicks into adoptive nests. His research has been published in National Geographic, National Wildlife, Yankee, Mass. Wildlife, Bird Observer, and more.

Feb. 11, The Life of the North American River Otter. Presentation by Liz Baldwin, assistant director, BiodiversityWorks. In 2011, Baldwin and her colleague Luanne Johnson founded BiodiversityWorks (biodiversityworksmv.org) to focus on wildlife research and monitoring in the region and to mentor high school and college students in field biology. One of their earlier research projects was documenting river otter activity across Martha’s Vineyard. Baldwin expanded the project for her master’s degree and looked at the activity patterns, behaviors, and population status of the river otter in a northeast coastal environment. In 2013, she graduated with a degree in Conservation Biology from Antioch University New England. She will talk to us about the biology and natural history of the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), results from her thesis, and how to identify otter track and sign.

Feb. 25, Eco-Restoration: Transforming Retired Bogs. Presentation by Eric Ford, restoration sSpecialist, Massachusetts Department of Ecological Restoration. Alongside its partners, the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, HCT is planning an ecological restoration future for its largest land holding, the 66-acre Robert F. Smith Cold Brook Preserve in Harwich Port. For over 100 years, the property was used for cranberry cultivation. When the HCT acquired the parcel in 2001, cranberry production had essentially ceased, and HCT was left with a decision as to how to manage the property moving forward. Agricultural modifications, including periodic sand application, water control berms, flumes, ditches, and other activities had resulted in habitat alteration, water quality degradation, barriers to fish passage, and other ecosystem changes. After much thought, HCT elected to restore the property to its original ecological trajectory as a wetland and coastal stream complex.

The Cold Brook/Bank Street Bogs Restoration Project will focus on restoring ecological processes (examples: the natural movement of water, sediment, nutrients, organic matter, etc.) to transform the former bogs into a diverse, dynamic, and self-sustaining wetland and riverine system. The project will remove the decaying water control structures, restore natural hydrology, diversify habitats, and remove barriers to fish migration. The project will foster a more adaptable landscape amid climate change and sea level rise, and create a vibrant destination for visitors.